Friday, July 6, 2012

Recital ahead

In response to a note from a concerned friend on Facebook, our electricity was restored on Monday (yay!), so we're not sweltering in this 100+ degree heat.

Assuming there will not be another storm that knocks the power out again, my musical endeavor for the week is an Adult Music Student Forum recital this coming Sunday, for which I'm playing the D minor Prelude and Fugue from WTC II. I can't believe I've been working on this for almost 4 months, and relearning it at that. But I realized that my stage on the piano is such that learning any piece involves more than being able to play the notes or even develop an interpretation. What I mean is that I've been learning an almost entirely different way of playing, and though I think it is getting to be more natural for me is not quite there yet.

I have been going back and forth for the past month about whether to play from memory. I could do it; however, I decided that I want to feel relaxed enough to be able to apply what I've been learning about how to play the piano without having to worry about missing notes. I have enough things to think about that are new -- among others, how I'm using my hands, pedaling, and what my teacher is going to think (even if he is not at the recital, I'm sure he will hear reports) -- that I was afraid I would fall back on old habits of tensing up and grabbing at the keys or whatever it is I was doing before. So, with music it is. It feels like a bit of a defeat, but I console myself with examples like Richter, who used music at the end of his career though you know he could have played without it had he wanted to do so.

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Well-Tempered Clavier Project

I am on a quest to learn all 48 sets of preludes and fugues in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, "learning" including memorizing. I thought it might be interesting to collect all of my Bach efforts in one place; see the list below. Clicking on the link will open the recording so you can listen to it.

The recordings are in reverse chronological order (oldest last). The earliest was recorded in 2006.

I am NOT implying that these are definitive interpretations! Rather, this is meant to document my development as an amateur pianist.

I have actually learned these others as well but never tried recording them; maybe someday I will go back and resurrect them:

WTC II/20 in A minor
WTC I/21 in B flat major
WTC I/1 in C major
WTC I/2 in C minor